A child established with world displacement by parental and governmental abandon. The accents are tuneless, Goldwyn can take a beating, Kinski bears mother regret and Johansson freshens teenage rebellion. A deeper study could have generated considerable empathy and provoked an argument instead of halting lightly. 25-Oct-2018

It was a contender for greatness. It tests our patience of children, the ingratitude of charity and the dejection of hope. The candy color added brilliance to poverty and the actors took realism to gut. Unfortunately, the finale adds delusion to reality and makes us feel cheated for watching a Disney commercial as crispy and removed as its music. 07-Oct-2018

A future world where men control the financial and the empowering facets of every woman. She's a mother to a gifted daughter, too old and unattached to succeed financially and whose choices for betterment are minimal. The scares arise from her choices but her heart makes it logical. 23-Aug-2018

Hillbilly family reunion corrodes when mindless gay teen usurps flamboyance against parental repression. Combustion arises from a "me too" moment wherein the offended family ascribe scaring the "California" out of the teen. It's courageously choreographed and uniquely categorized but when the balloon pops it fizzles. The sexual indiscretion that drives the suspense has no explanation, resolution or respect. Chicken fighting has been ruined. 21-Jun-2018

They dealt with incest by sudsing, name dropping and securing an actress of "natural" superiority. Points were made and evaluations considered. Celeste Holm didn't waste her legend, the compassion was still in her eyes. 07-Jun-2018

A delicate portrait of a girl whose challenge in life is not being a boy. There is cruelty in this world because every man is the law and every man enforces it. Women can be beat or killed for showing their face and have no freedom to enjoy life. Becoming a boy helps our heroine to walk ahead, take care of her family and open her eyes. That there is hope in such gloomy circumstances helps the viewer empathize and remain firm in the fight for equality. The girl knows what's right because it beats in her heart and aches in her soul. She doesn't need to follow magic to gain freedom. She just needs to fight back. Heartwarming. 05-Apr-2018

Pockets of beauty, CGI amazement and a score that predates the original. What tears from the pockets is an incompleteness of the human voice and a celebration of what is going to enslave us. 10-Jan-2018

To regard it, you need to evade the details. The accents reverberate inharmoniously, the shade becomes platitude and Blige's sunglasses are a luxury and an unnecessary distraction. Mary is saddled with careful wording and spacing which is the antithesis of what she relays in song. If she would have sung her part she might have let go of her elegance to extract a soul from her character. No player inhabits the complexities of the dimensional but somehow the makers' message punches through. 28-Dec-2017

Beautiful discarded youth. The film is neither perky or pretty. Its purpose is to supply oxygen to an ugly truth. You can look away to establish your purpose or look back so you can help fix it. 11-Dec-2017